Fortunately this wasp nest has nothing to do with those angry insects, darázsfészek in this case means yeast pastry rolls with creamed butter and/or ground walnuts. These walnut “snails” are generally served as a dessert after thick, filling soups. You can decide if you spread the dough only with soft butter sweetened with sugar or you also sprinkle it with ground walnuts. The pastry rolls have to be placed close to each other and they have to fill the entire pan before baking. To make the rolls very soft, brush hot milk (adding vanilla sugar to the milk is optional) on tops at half-time when they gain some colour.
photo: zserbo.com
Ingredients:
For the dough:
- 350 g (~2 3/4 cups) flour
- 2 egg yolks
- pinch of salt
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 20 g fresh yeast (2 tsp dry yeast)
- 150-200 ml (~2/3 – 4/5 cup) milk
For the filling:
- 100 g (~1/2 cup) butter
- 100 g(~1/2 cup) sugar
- 100 g (~1 cup) ground walnuts
- 150 ml (~ 2/3 cup) milk for brushing tops
Dissolve yeast with sugar in lukewarm milk. Once yeast is activated, add to the flour, together with the other ingredients, and knead until smooth and pliable. Cover and let it rise until it doubles in size.
Meanwhile cream together butter and sugar; set aside. Butter a baking pan.
Roll out the dough to a thickness of 4-5 mm, spread the butter on top evenly, then scatter ground walnuts all over. Roll up the dough and cut into 12 pieces. Lay the “snails” in the baking pan leaving some space among them.
Let them rise for 30-40 minutes and then place in an oven preheated to 180°C / 356°F to bake. When the pastries start getting a pale colour, brush the tops with hot milk and continue to bake until golden brown (baking takes 30-35 minutes).
